Ethan’s Soapbox: Discussing a Missed Opportunity in Kamen Rider Geats

While we are in the first few weeks of Kamen Rider Gotchard, Ethan takes a moment to look back to Kamen Rider Geats and discusses something they feel was a missed opportunity set up by last year’s season of Kamen Rider.

WARNING: Light spoilers for Kamen Rider Geats ahead.

In Kamen Rider Geats, it is established that the Desire Grand Prix or DGP – the game that everyone competes in to get their wish granted and their ideal world made – is actually run by people from so far into the future that our present day is ancient history to them, all as a form of reality TV for the entertainment for others from that time period. As well as this, it is established the DGP has been held throughout our history. Today I’m here to stand atop my soapbox and discuss how this plot point is severely underutilised and what I think should have been done instead.

The primary way the ‘DGP has been held throughout history’ plot point plays into the overall season is to explain Ace’s competence and knowledge of the DGP. It is revealed in the lead up to the debut and explanation of the Boost MK2 buckle that this proficiency is the result of the fulfilment of several wishes Ace made while winning the DGP in his past lives. While this is fine enough on its own, in the grander scheme of things it does something very interesting; It opens the door for the possibility that anyone of note though all of history could be a Kamen Rider via the DGPs past games, a possibility that would be incredibly fun and interesting to see used.

Taking advantage of our main character Ace’s reincarnating nature and vast historical knowledge, there would be a good chance any historical figure plucked from time to compete with Ace would be someone he knows of or has some relationship with. The one time past Riders were brought back into the DGP was the Divergence Arc to compete in the Desaster Game (a.k.a. Kamen Rider Among Us) and, debatably, Kamen Rider Seeker from Kamen Rider Geats × Revice: Movie Battle Royale (2022).

Starting with the two from the series, Lopo and Nudge-Sparrow, both are fine for what they are and what they needed to do for the story but wouldn’t it have been more interesting if even one of them was, for instance, William Shakespeare? Perhaps even one of the few other historical figures Ace has quoted over the series. This would help to flesh out the many lives Ace has lived up till now, possibly even letting him have a few more moments with someone that in a past life he considered a friend.

One common complaint levelled at Kamen Rider Geats × Revice: Movie Battle Royale (2022) is that Kamen Rider Seeker feel flat as a villain and seemed like a character created mainly so that Geats, Ikki and Vice would have someone to have a cool fight with while the real villain, the top hat wearing gamemaster, Colus, gets dealt with by Girori. I don’t think I need to explain too much why replacing Seeker with, as an example, a time displaced Ozymandias and establishing he and Colus have some deal would barely alter the movie, while also making the fact he’s using the Fortnite creative mode buckle a lot cooler, adding a potentially deeper meaning to it.

Since the Kamen Rider Geats: 4 Aces and the Black Fox move is not yet out on home media, I can’t talk about the villains from it too much. However, we do know a couple things, their name is Mela and they appear to be some weirdo clown man from the future, who is also in a top hat. You know, if I had a nickel for every movie villain in Kamen Rider Geats movies has a top hat, I’d have two nickels… which isn’t a lot but it’s weird its happened twice. Seriously, though, while I can’t comment on their execution in the movie, just from what we know wouldn’t something like a past version of Ace, that had been messed with via the DGP in the future and sent to beat his future self be more interesting to see then yet another person from the future that wants to harm the past for their own kicks?

Bringing this to a close, Kamen Rider Geats was an interesting and fun season of Kamen Rider that, sure, has its issues but I think also misses some potential for really interesting stories simply by using the vast history of the DGP and Ace’s reincarnations. Not to mention, the interesting world building potential of having the post final form debut, Arc, being Ace, and the gang haunted by past DGP winners Suel made deals with, revealing that mythic monster hunters like Minamoto no Raikō. Are past winners and the monsters they hunted were actually Jyamato? We will probably never know why they didn’t do any of these things that they had a perfect opportunity to do. It could be as simple as no one thought of it or a Toei higher up shot down the idea because they felt it would be stepping on Kamen Rider Ghost’s toes. I think we should at least acknowledge the missed opportunity, regardless of the reason.

With Ethan off his soapbox, what do you think of these ideas? How would you have liked to see things happen in Kamen Rider Geats? Let us know in the comment section below.

Images Source: Kamen Rider Fandom Wiki